I've covered retail and franchising a long while...so I never buy off end-caps. I've written for Entrepreneur, the Seattle Times, Seattle Business, Seattle Magazine, Alaska Airlines, Horizon Airlines, Puget Sound Business Journal, Nation's Restaurant News, Costco, and many more. In my free time, I mentor other freelance writers through my Make a Living Writing blog and my membership community, Freelance Writers Den. I live in the great Northwest with my husband, three kids, and assorted friends and pets. For a quick look at all the places I blog, see my Google+ profile: https://plus.google.com/+CarolTice

How Chick-Fil-A's Social-Media Bungle Fueled a Gay-Rights Backlash

It’s no secret that fast-food chain Chick-Fil-A donates to anti-gay Christian charities — the chain has been getting flak from gay-rights groups for a while now on that. But this week, the company flunked crisis PR 101 and spawned a social-media firestorm with its inept handling of the issue. If there was a gay person — or supporter — left in the U.S.A. with a Facebook account who didn’t know about the boycott of Chick-Fil-A, there isn’t now.

The flames were re-ignited Tuesday when company president Dan Cathy told the Baptist Press he is “guilty as charged” of donating to anti-gay charities. Then the company tried to fix the problem with an announcement on Chick-Fil-A’s Facebook page that sent the whole controversy massively viral. Here’s the exact verbiage:

“The Chick-fil-A culture and service tradition in our restaurants is to treat every person with honor, dignity and respect – regardless of their belief, race, creed, sexual orientation or gender. We will continue this tradition in the over 1,600 Restaurants run by independent Owner/Operators. Going forward, our intent is to leave the policy debate over same-sex marriage to the government and political arena.

“Chick-fil-A is a family-owned and family-led company serving the communities in which it operates. From the day Truett Cathy started the company, he began applying biblically-based principles to managing his business. For example, we believe that closing on Sundays, operating debt-free and devoting a percentage of our profits back to our communities are what make us a stronger company and Chick-fil-A family.

“Our mission is simple: to serve great food, provide genuine hospitality and have a positive influence on all who come in contact with Chick-fil-A.”

Translation: “We’d like to close our eyes now, count to ten, and you should forget all about our fervently avowed political views — which we won’t be changing — and go back to eating our chicken a lot.”

Which didn’t work.

This non-response didn’t answer the questions on many people’s minds: Will the company stop donating to groups that are actively opposing gay-marriage laws, and controversial “gay-curing” groups such as Exodus International? Also, how are gay employees treated at the company given the corporate culture?

By essentially refusing to address the issues its founder raised, Chick-Fil-A just made a lot of people madder.

Also. by issuing its statement only on its Facebook page — no official company press release was issued — Chick-Fil-A attempted to hide the controversy in a corner instead of facing it square-on. Unfortunately, the social-media corner is exactly the wrong corner for trying to hide something like this.

Now, you can check the Twitter hashtag #ChickFilGay for copycat chicken recipes so you can make the company’s sandwiches at home and avoid patronizing the chain. There’s also news of boycott parties being organized, along with an endless stream of remarks such as Emily Testerman’s @little__ghost: “farewell forever #chickfila, yer waffle fries and lil’ nugs can’t mask the bitter taste of your intolerance.”

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My wife and I for one LOVE their food, family values and respect of closing on Sundays. We are NOT bible toting folks either. When will we all be able to stop the crap that we all have to like the same things and not have a line in the sand with some decent values. Given this article, might go there more than we used to. If you don’t like them, go somewhere else….it’s pretty simple folks.

If you disagree with a leftist, be the leftist a religion, racial one, sexual orientation one, you are automaticaly dubbed a hate monger or a racist, or both. The left and the special interest groups that donate to their anti-American causes love to preach tolerance, but only if it is tolerance of them and their beliefs. They want to force their way on everyone no matter what.

If you disagree with a leftist, be the leftist a religion, racial one, sexual orientation one, you are automaticaly dubbed a hate monger or a racist, or both. The left and the special interest groups love to preach tolerance, but only if it is tolerance of them and their beliefs. They want to force their way on everyone no matter what.

Everyone, including my Christian brothers and sisters, needs to look up the MEDICAL reasons for the rise in homosexuality before they continue in their blind and counterproductive crusade against the gay community. Google “xenoestrogens, sexual orientation”, “right hand finger length study, homosexuality”, “prenatal hormones, homosexuality” and related searches.

Yes…there are MEDICAL reasons for homosexuality and they help explain why gay individuals often unequivocally state that they have felt the way they do for as long as they can remember. In some, it MAY BE a lifestyle choice. However, in others (as in most gays that I know), they have felt this way…even fought the compulsion to be this way…their entire life. They are as convinced of their sexual orientation as any heterosexual.

NOW: This is not to say that “marriage” cannot remain defined as a union between a man and a woman” nor does it mean that homosexuals should be leaders in the church nor does it even say that people cannot change their sexual orientation if motivated enough to do so (e.g. by fervent prayer and acceptance of Scripture) The latter IS happening.

BUT…the church is going to have to deal with the fact that homosexuality is NOT simply a matter of being “seduced by the dark side”. There is overwhelming medical evidence that sexual orientation CAN be changed in utero. Homosexuality is now much more than the “simple” lifestyle choice that the uneducated individual thinks it is.

Very interesting, John. However, you still come across as supporting the false notion that it is a CHOICE.

Like many other Believers I have met, I was suicidal for years, because Christians like you would tell me if I *really* wanted to change, I could. And many full nights on my knees spent in prayer and weeping, reading books on change, joining change ministires later, I had not changed. Sure, I was abstinent, but the attraction never left. So I must not *really* want to change, right? I’m a bad person. I should just kill myself. And many do.

You very emphatically state as a fact, “The latter IS happening.” Can you give me a good number of confirmed cases? The president of Exodus International, the biggest change ministry out there, cannot. He stated publicly that 99% of those who went to Exodus for help (and there were a LOT) did not see change. Only refraining from the sinful behaviour. Many in denial who convinced themselves they had and forced themselves to marry (I mean, they, like me, believe in the power of God), only to later either revert to a gay lifestyle or stay married and “struggle” to be abstinent.

It’s unfair to the women, too. One time I read a statement by a gay man, “Let us marry, so we won’t marry your daughters”. I almost got married, and I backed out, breaking her heart, because I realised I would ruin her life. She deserved more.

Why is it that atheists like Bill Maher are more tolerant and accepting than those who supposedly follow the One who said, “Love your enemies, do good to them that persecute you, and pray for those who despitefully use you.” The next phrase ISN’T, “Unless they’re gay.”

First of all, let me say that I can only imagine how hard something like changing ones sexual orientation would be. “Hard” doesn’t begin to describe it.

Do I think that homosexuality is a “choice”? If you understand the reason for my post, then you see that the point was, because of physiological factors, it is NOT a choice in most cases UNTIL that individual contemplates changing. Then, as tough/impossible as it may seem to make that change, I put NO limitations on the power of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer.

Paul says that we can do ALL things thru Christ…not a few things or a list of things…ALL things. It is understood that there are two conditions that govern this: 1) We must have faith and 2) It must be in accordance with God’s will. Jesus called Peter out of the boat to violate natural law…to have him walk on water. He was able to do so because it was God’s will for him to do so and because he had faith that he could, albeit transient.

Can our Lord empower a homosexual to become straight? The answer has to be “yes” if He can empower us to do ALL things. The questions then become: Does that person desire to become straight? Does that person have faith that this can occur? And finally, is it God’s will that the person become straight?

As far as actual numbers of people who have successfully made this conversion go, I have none. I am surprised that the number you state from Exodus International is so low. They had better success than that in this study – http://www.webmd.com/sex-relationships/news/20010509/can-homosexuals-become-straight

BUT…my whole point of posting was not to try to convince gays to become straight. My reason for posting was actually IN SUPPORT of the LGBT community, trying to get my “homophobic” Christian siblings to see that being gay is not the simple choice that many still think it is. It was determined in utero in most cases.

Understanding this should be a game changer, shouldn’t it? But…neither side really wants to hear this, do they? Anti-gay Christians don’t want to deal with this. It’s easier to just “stand on God’s word” and close the case. And, the LGBT community doesn’t want their orientation to be labeled as a “birth defect”, do they? But as hard as it is to swallow, medical evidence points to the FACT that homosexuality can be created by xenoestrogen exposure in the womb. One physical marker is the length of the index finger compared to the middle finger.

As bad as this sounds, it opens the door for reconciliation between the two groups. Yes, homosexuals were born this way. Again, they were not simply “seduced by the dark side”. “It’s not their fault” is another way to put it, although that word “fault” becomes a sticking point.

From there, we have to go to God’s Word…if we believe the Bible is in fact God’s Word. What does it say about same-sex relationships? Leviticus 18:22, Leviticus 20:13, Romans 1:24-27, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, 1 Timothy 1:8-11, Genesis 19:1-29.